Baugh/Bough in Franklin, TN

[lupaglupa]

Years ago my father showed me a map from the Civil War with the home of his grandmother's family marked on it. She was a Baugh from Franklin, TN. The official Civil War Atlas has a similar map but it is marked Bough, not Baugh. I find both names used in official records. From other family info I am assuming the official map is mis-spelled. Anybody know for sure?

 

[lupaglupa]

I also have an old photo of their house (taken about 1903), though judging by the style this either post dates the war or was significantly altered in the Victorian era.

 

[Rhea Cole]

What a nice posting. Names during the 19th Century can morph. My maternal grandmother had an odd last name. Her grandfather accounted for no less than six men on a roster list because of the phonetic spellings of his name. Two of her brothers spelled their last names differently, one supposes in order to make them easily pronounced. Anyways, a switch from Bough to Baugh is not unusual, generally speaking.

 

[lupaglupa]

Did some more digging and found a map of the family holdings after the CW - looks like the land north of the river to the west of the marking on the map. Still hoping some local Franklin folk will jump in to say - Of course, that's the blah blah house

 

[Zella]

I've also found 19th century surnames that shifted. I think it is possible both were in use.

 

[lupaglupa]

It may be a spelling shift or it could be an error made by the Union troops. If you didn't know the name you might think that the bend and/or crossing was named for tree boughs. Although that seems unlikely if the information was spoken since Baugh is pronounced BAW and would hardly be confused with the common pronunciation of bough. Seem written down though, I could imagine looking at hand writing and assuming the a was an o.

 

[JoeHaub]

The label "Bough" on that map marked the home of Joseph W. Baugh and his wife, Harriet (Morton) Baugh on Del Rio Pike. The original Baugh residence was a low, sprawling brick house with upstairs rooms under the eaves. The 1,000-acre farm, which extended north to the Harpeth River, was divided equally between the four surviving children, each receiving 250 acres,. Fannie Forrester (Baugh) Smith received the portion to the west, directly across Del Rio Pike. Harriet Baugh's home, which was still standing in 1982 and may be the one pictured above, was northwest of the original Baugh homesite. None of the old Baugh family homes exist today. The original Baugh house was leveled in the 1970s.

 

[lupaglupa]

@JoeHaub are you a descendant? Joseph Wilkes Baugh and Harriett Morton are my Gr-gr-gr-grandparents. A cousin who still lives in Franklin tells me the house in the photo still stands but he doesn't know how it is linked to the family. I recently spent a full day in the Tennessee Archives reading JW Baugh's diary. Fascinating stuff!

 

[JoeHaub]

Yes, I'm another descendent. Three more generations of Joseph Wilkes Baugh made Franklin their homes, and Baugh family members are still there. I just texted Wilkes Baugh, one of our cousins, to offer him a framed, hand-drawn, framed and documented Baugh family coat of arms circa 1850. Fannie was my grandmother's grandmother. I grew up studying portraits of her and her father, Joseph, displayed in our living room. Use Google Maps' street view and explore Del Rio Pike, and you may find the old home in your photo. Much of that area has been built up into subdivisions.